


Pieces of Home

by Thistlerose



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-02
Updated: 2011-01-02
Packaged: 2017-10-14 08:24:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/147293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thistlerose/pseuds/Thistlerose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Sunnydale is destroyed, Dawn goes to stay with her relatives in Illinois.  Xander finds a way to make her less homesick.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pieces of Home

Xander parked the car under the grey boughs of a ginko tree and turned off the engine. He glanced through the window at the row of identical townhouses. No sign of Dawn. He glanced at the backseat. His passenger appeared to be deeply asleep, so he decided not to disturb her. It was chilly, even for late October in Illinois, but he'd had the heat on since he'd left the motel this morning; she'd be all right.

He finished his coffee, which had gotten cold, crumpled the paper cup, and dropped it into the plastic bag under the glove compartment.

Still no Dawn.

"Guess I'm gonna have to meet the relatives after all," he sighed, and climbed out of the car.

Dawn came out of _nowhere_ , and threw her arms around him with such ferocity that he fell back, bumping painfully against the side mirror.

"Okay, _ow_ ," he grunted.

Dawn let go at once. "Omigod!" she said breathlessly. "I'm just - Okay, that was maybe a little overenthusiastic."

"Not that it isn't good seeing you too," said Xander, rubbing his back. "All the same, _ow._ "

Dawn bit her lip.

"That, and – where did you come from?"

Her chagrin fell away. "You really didn't see me sneaking up on you? How cool was that? I did it to my stupid cousin Robbie the other day – except without the hugging because hello, _ew_ \- and you should have heard him shriek. It was awesome. Worth getting grounded."

"Your Aunt Arlene's pretty strict with you, huh?"

Dawn shrugged. "She thinks Mom let me and Buffy run wild 'cause she was a flower child in the Sixties, and then she got into art. She's not a tyrant, but, you know. Xander," she said seriously, "you have _got_ to get me out of here. It's not _fair._ How come I have to live with Aunt Arlene?"

"Do I really have to say it? Standing in the middle of the street? In the freezing cold? Possibly bleeding internally?"

"No," said Dawn. "No, I know. I have to finish high school, and Buffy's gotta save the world with her Slayerettes. It's just…" She flapped her hands helplessly and looked at him with pleading eyes. "Xander, Chicago's cool and all, but it's no fun here. Stupid Robbie calls me 'Rama-lama-ding-dawn.' Don't laugh!"

"I'm not laughing," said Xander quickly. "I'm snickering, which is not the same as laughing."

"Yes, it is."

"And I'm kind of wishing I'd thought of that a long time ago."

"Hey!"

"Dawnie, Dawnie."

"Xander, Xander."

"It's good to see you. Now I can go back and tell Buffy you're being a perfect saint."

"But I'm not—"

Xander cut her off. "Well, that was the story I was going to go with." He took a step toward her. "Can we try again? Without the violence this time?"

She filled his arms. He tucked her head under his chin, closed his eye and for a moment returned to Sunnydale. Dawn was just a little girl and had sought him out after a fight with Buffy. The breeze was warm and carried the tang of salt from the ocean. His days were about homework and the Bronze and Buffy and Willow and feeling like the only male virgin over fifteen on the planet.

Dawn made an odd whuffling sound against the collar of his sweater, and the moment passed. He was twenty-three years old, this was a suburb of Chicago, it was cold, and his days were about demons, battle strategies, and long stretches of highway.

And he wasn't a virgin anymore.

Thank God.

His days were about friends too, and he'd come here to do more than just check up on this one.

"Brought you something," he said, pushing Dawn gently away. "Something that'll make your life here a little more bearable. I should've asked if anyone was allergic, but I wanted it to be a surprise." His hands on her shoulders, he turned her so that she was facing the car's window.

"Omigod!"

Miss Kitty Fantastico yowled in alarm when Dawn yanked the door open, but she had no chance of getting away. She was scooped up and then all but smothered with kisses. "Where did you," Dawn half-sobbed into the black-and-white fur, " _how_ did you--? I thought she was dead." Then she was truly sobbing, so Xander didn't quite catch her next words, but he thought they might have been: "I thought I'd scared her away for good when I almost shot her with the crossbow that one time. Then when Sunnydale…"

"Willow," Xander explained while Dawn shook and Miss Kitty Fantastico threw him a beseeching look. "Did a spell. We were passing by – where Sunnydale used to be – and she thought she'd try. It wasn't easy. Magic doesn't always work on cats, for some reason. But… Either it worked, or someone wanted to be found. Anyway. We thought…"

Willow hadn't wanted to keep the cat, who'd reminded her of her time with Tara, but Xander didn't think Dawn needed to know that.

Her face still muffled by fur, Dawn said, "She smells like _home._ Oh, Xander…"

"Yeah, well," said Xander, feeling oddly embarrassed. "Mission accomplished…I hope."

Dawn's head bobbed up and down. "Xander, you're the _best_."

Her affirmation warmed him like California sunlight. He clasped her shoulders again, and the tremors subsided. He leaned down and planted a brotherly kiss on her brow.

1/23/2008


End file.
